Why is this old blog still visible?

  • Unknown's avatar
    sumankher · Member ·

    I moved my domain from WordPress to Godaddy in 2018. So my domain is registered with Godaddy.
    1. Why is my old website still visible with a wordpress.com address?
    2. Can I pay and claim this domain again?
    3. If I stick to Godaddy, how do I ensure the old one doesn’t turn up in search to create confusion since the current one is updated and looks different from the old one?

    Site: (email visible only to moderators and staff).
    WP.com: Yes
    Correct account: Yes

  • supernovia · Staff ·

    Hi @sumankher, the free address is still there because you didn’t delete it. But that’s a great thing, because it leaves you with more options! Here are two of them. Both of these essentially combine the two sites, thus eliminating the old address from showing in search results.

    I’m including kind of moderately technical details, so if you need explanations on any of this, just let us know:

    Merge old site into the new one: You could export the content from the old site and import it into the new site, just so that any indexed content definitely exists on the new site. Then, add a site redirect that sends the old address to the new:
    https://wordpress.com/domains/add/site-redirect/

    That upgrade ($13/year) creates a 301 redirect from the old site to the new one: any old URLs will automatically redirect to the same URLs on the new site. And, because it’s a 301, search engines will essentially be told “Hey, so, the content has been moved over here.” And usually they’ll update their links automatically.

    If I were in your shoes, that’s what I’d do, to be frank! It’s simpler in the short run, and if you’re comfortable managing your own installation, it’d work well. But you also have the option of using our services again:

    Merge new site into the old one, and add the custom domain: You would import into the old address, then add the new address to that with any of our paid plans. That would also redirect from old to new, and you’d have our hosting with its features (security, maintenance, spam filtering, direct WordPress support, etc.). This is a bit more complex, but certainly doable, and our support would be happy to help. So if you’re interested in that, you can find the pricing here:
    https://wordpress.com/pricing

    And, if neither of those options sound right to you, no fear! There are more possibilities. Just send more details and your goals, and we’ll let you know what we’d recommend.

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